


Little Soldier Boy

by UniverseInk



Series: Jason kills the Joker [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Don't copy to another site, Gen, more accurately hes not a good parent, this is roughly 1k of jason yelling at bruce to get his head out of his ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniverseInk/pseuds/UniverseInk
Summary: Three weeks have passed since Jason killed the Joker, and he hasn’t so much as glimpsed Batman’s silhouette on a distant rooftop. Bruce is still active, Jason’s seen the evidence of his patrols, but he’s sure as hell keeping his distance. As much as he’d normally appreciate the space, Jason’s done waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Series: Jason kills the Joker [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810033
Comments: 26
Kudos: 184
Collections: the batman family





	Little Soldier Boy

**Author's Note:**

> TW: discussions of murder and death
> 
> This is a sequel to _too late to make it right_ , you might want to read that one first for context

Three weeks have passed since Jason killed the Joker, and he hasn’t so much as glimpsed Batman’s silhouette on a distant rooftop. Bruce is still active, Jason’s seen the evidence of his patrols, but he’s sure as hell keeping his distance. As much as he’d normally appreciate the space, Jason’s done waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He snuck into the Batcave an hour ago. With Dick in Blüdhaven and Tim offworld with the Titans, there’s little risk of an interruption. Alfred won’t bother them, though Jason’s sure he knows he’s here. 

In the spirit of dramatics Jason is crouched, helmet off, on top of his own memorial. He hates the damn thing, the clothes he died in lit up under a fucking spotlight, commemorating the kid he used to be. Or, more accurately, the kid Bruce wanted to remember him as.

_A good soldier._

What a fucking joke. 

Jason hears the distant rumble of the Batmobile and sinks further into the shadows. Bruce gets out and beelines for the Batcomputer, typing furiously at the keyboard. Jason watches for a moment, eyes the clear lines of tension in Bruce’s shoulders, thinks about coming back when the Bat’s not so pissy.

No, he’d rather get this over with.

Jason leaps down from the memorial, landing with a thud. Bruce is out of his chair in an instant, hand reaching for a batarang before he realizes it’s Jason.

“How long have you been here?” he asks.

“Good to see you too, old man,” Jason snarks. 

Bruce sighs, pulling the cowl off his face. “Did you want something?”

“I figured we were gonna have a fight about me killing the Joker eventually.” Jason shrugs. “Might as well do it now.”

Bruce’s face turns stony. “If you’re just going to treat this as a joke, you can leave. Taking a life isn’t a game.”

“You really think you’re in a position to tell me what it’s like to kill?” Jason keeps his voice light, but his fists clench at his sides. “I know damn well what it is or isn’t. You’re the one in the dark here, B.”

“I don’t think being a killer makes you an authority on morality,” Bruce says. “If you’re trying to defend yourself, do better.”

Jason takes a deep breath, forcing himself not to lunge across the cave and plant his fist in Bruce’s face. 

“I didn’t kill the Joker because it was the _right thing to do_ ,” he says, voice shaking as he tries to keep it even. “I did it because it was the only way to keep Robin safe.”

“He was already down,” Bruce argues. “We could easily have taken him back to Arkham.”

“And you think that would stop him?” Jason yells. “When has sending the Joker to Arkharm done _anything_? He was fresh off his latest escape when he killed me, remember?”

“Jason—”

“No, shut up and listen to me,” Jason snarls. “The whole reason that bastard took the kid in the first place was to one-up himself. He wanted to use Robin’s death to _break you_. Do you really think he would have given up just because you sent him back to Arkham for a couple months?”

Jason’s chest is heaving, his hands shaking. Bruce’s face is a stone mask. 

“If I hadn’t killed him, he would have tried again. And next time, maybe he’d have succeeded.”

“That doesn’t excuse taking the law into your own hands,” Bruce says, voice cold. “The justice system—”

“The justice system is broken as shit and you know it.” Jason cuts him off. “And Arkham sure as hell wasn’t doing anything to rehabilitate the bastard. Killing him may not have been the right thing to do, but it was _fucking necessary_.”

“And what’s next? Killing anyone _you_ decide can’t be saved?” Bruce snaps.

Jason bares his teeth. “I’m not like you, Bruce. I don’t need an uncrossable line in the sand to keep me from becoming one of them. And even if I did, it’s too fucking late, because I crossed that line a long time ago.” Jason stands up straight, lifting his chin and forcing the emotion off his face. “We both know you don’t think anyone really comes back from being a killer.”

The cave is silent.

“Gotham doesn’t need any more killers on the loose,” Bruce says eventually.

“Oh _fuck_ you.” Jason’s lip curls. “Just because you’re the Batman doesn’t mean you get to decide what Gotham needs. You in your fucking house on the hill, looking down on the rest of us when you don’t even know what this city does to its people.”

“I’ve seen enough—”

“You’ve _seen_ , yeah, but haven’t lived it. You’ve seen the worst of Gotham, but you get to go home to your cushy fucking manor and your billions of dollars and your state-of-the-art security system. Most people don’t have any of those fucking luxuries,” Jason sneers. “Some of us had to make choices, _hard_ choices, to keep ourselves alive. Do you think I was ripping off tires cause I thought it was _morally correct_? I did it because I was starving to death!

“Crime Alley isn’t full of shitty people, Bruce. It’s full of _people_. People who know that they can’t count on the cops to save them, or the system to give them any sort of _justice_. People who will kill to save their families if they have to.”

The cave falls silent. Jason is shaking, hands clenched into fists. Bruce is just standing there. After a moment, Jason turns, grabbing his helmet off the memorial.

“Do you know what a good soldier does, Bruce?” he asks. 

There’s no answer. 

“A good soldier goes off to war, follows orders without question, and dies heroically so no one has to deal with how badly it broke him.” 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr @mercuryparallax (art and writing blog) or @transrobins (Batfam/DC blog)
> 
> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed this


End file.
